Racin' with Jason: Easthampton's Eric LeClair and his one-man operation have a banner season at Thompson and Monadnock

Crystal SnapeEasthampton's Eric LeClair had arguably the best year of his career at age 58.

Sometimes, it just takes longer than you’d like for things to truly come together.

That’s been the case this season for Eric LeClair.

After 35 seasons racing Modifieds all over the Northeast, the 58-year-old from Easthampton has accomplished something he had never done - finish in the top 10 in the points standings in three different divisions at two different tracks.

At Monadnock Speedway in Winchester, N.H., LeClair placed eighth in the Sportsman Modified class. He was fourth in the Lite Modifieds and ninth in the highly competitive Sunoco Modified division at Thompson (Conn.) International Speedway.

“It’s kind of an amazing venture,” LeClair said. “I did it twice in one year, I think back in the late 1980s. I just made the decision to go ahead and do it because they were short on cars down at Thompson.

“I said, ‘You know what? This is a good time to take opportunity of that situation.’ I helped to fill the field, but next thing you know, they were having more and more cars.”

What makes LeClair’s achievement even more remarkable is that car No. 52 is a one-man effort.

“I have my own deal,” LeClair said. “I do all my own motor work, I do all my own transmission work, I do all my own welding. I’m the guy who changes all the tires. I’m the guy who goes to the track. I don’t have a spotter. I don’t have a pit crew.

“Once in a while, I’ll have people stop over to help with some little things, but as far as having a pit crew, I have no pit crew. All I’ve got is a pickup truck and an open trailer, and that’s the way I’ve raced for the longest time.”

How does LeClair handle one of racing’s biggest expenses? Ingenuity.

He has only had to buy 20 tires all season because he turns them inside out and remounts them when one side is worn out.

In this age of younger drivers with a certain sense of entitlement, LeClair is a prototypical throwback. Since his career began in 1978, LeClair has shared the track with legends like Jerry Cook and the late Richie Evans - people whose heyday came before these upstarts were even born.

“They all think I’m like 40 or 45 years old,” LeClair said. “They have no idea I’m 58.”

LeClair was a regular at the old Riverside Park Speedway in Agawam, and he was a regular on what is now the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour until the mid-1990s - getting paid to drive other people’s cars.

“It’s been a good ride,” LeClair said. “I’ve been in probably 30 different Modifieds in my career.”

As for the work ethic?

“I think I picked it up from my Marine Corps attitude when I was at an early age,” he said. “The word ‘quit’ does not exist.”

The fearless nature LeClair honed in the military has earned him two citations for heroism.

In 1990, the car driven by Eddie D’Hondt - who is now Jeff Gordon’s spotter in the Sprint Cup Series - caught fire at Riverside. LeClair climbed from his car, ran to the burning car and pulled D’Hondt out. He received the “Maxwell House Hero of the Year” for his actions.

Two years later, LeClair came upon the scene of a serious motorcycle accident in Chicopee, in which an off-duty Chicopee policeman had his legs severed. LeClair removed his T-shirt and made it into a tourniquet to stop the bleeding and save the man’s life.

“That’s the stuff over the years that’s helped me acquire the relationships I’ve gained,” LeClair said.

That selfless attitude, coupled with tremendous sportsmanship on the track, has earned LeClair the respect of his fellow competitors. Earlier this season, driver Dan Avery, who runs a wheel business, gave LeClair 25 rims - which run around $160 apiece - for nothing.

LeClair works on the car and tests it at Northampton Airport, where he works. His primary sponsors are J.J. Staniszewski and Sons of Northampton and Start-to-Finish Motorsports.

Teenage sensation Tommy Barrett will make his Tour debut, driving the No. 10 car owned by Gary Teto. After a violent crash at New Hampshire, Ted Christopher will again call upon owner Wayne Anderson to let him use his car, which will be renumbered as the No. 3 so Christopher’s current team can keep the points.